BernadetteApparitions12

Bernadettes younger brother, Jean-Marie, recalled "seeing this very clearly as it passed between her fingers." Another neighbour present, a boy called Bernard Joanas, remembered that while this was taking place, Doctor Dozous checked the child's pulse but could find no irregularity. And that when someone was about to remove the candle from her, the woman was told by Doctor Dozous to "Leave her alone." "Bernadette, meanwhile, made no movement," stated the boy, who later became a curate in Lourdes and the Chaplain of the Lourdes Hospice run by the Sisters of Nevers. Other witnesses later mentioned that this phenomenon also occurred earlier during the Apparitions, sometime before the end of February. At those times, people shouted to take the candle away from the child as it would burn her, although in fact she was not burned - despite the long period of time during which her hand was in contact with the flame.

                                 THE THREE MONTHS LEADING TO THE END OF THE APPARITIONS

Toward the end of the Apparitions, the civil authorities had made all sort of attempts to put an end to the occurrences at the Grotto of Massabieille. A number of doctors and psychiatrists had been called to examine her - the child submitted to each and every examination without question. The doctors concluded that while there still existed the possibility that the visions were the result of "some cerebral lesion," still they could not conclusively decide if this was the case. Other doctors were unwilling to discount the possibility that what was occurring was the result of a supernatural manifestation.

The Bishop of Tarbes, Monseigneur Lawrence, was also following the unusual events in Lourdes. As yet, he had not formally set up a Commission to investigate the alleged Apparitions.   Between the penultimate and the final Apparitions, the child was quite ill - as a result of her asthma she was sent to the mineral springs in Cauterets for recuperation (although this was not entirely effective).   Also, the Grotto itself had undergone some changes; workmen had widened the path leading to the Grotto and had completed the stone troughs into which the waters of the spring were to be redirected and allowed to collect, so allowing pilgrims to bathe in the water or to take it away in bottles.

Bernadette also made her First Holy Communion, on the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament - Thursday 3rd June 1858. Also on that day, she was invested by Abbe Peyramale with the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel - this scapular remained with her until death. Later, in the convent at Nevers, she would make her own scapulars as the need arose. Many of them can still be seen in the museum there.

That afternoon, Jean Baptiste Estrade and his sister were once again in the company of the child. Monsieur Estrade asked her - "Tell me, Bernadette, which made you happier - receiving Our Lord or conversing with the Blessed Virgin?"   The child replied without hesitation - "I don't know. The two things go together and cannot be compared. All I know is that I was intensely happy in both cases."

That day, there were more than six thousand people in attendance at the Grotto, hoping for some heavenly manifestation; they were not to be disappointed, despite the fact that no vision occurred that day.   Among the people present, there were many who were sick and crippled. A labourer from the countryside had come together with his family, including a boy of six years who was suffering from paralysis of the spine. Again Doctor Dozous was present at the scene - and he wrote later that he had taken quite an interest in the poor family with the paralysed child. "Since you have come" he said to the father of the child, "to obtain from the Blessed Virgin a cure which you have asked for in vain from science, take your child, undress him, and place him under the taps of the spring."   This was duly done and the child was partially submerged in the cold water for a few minutes. "The little invalid" continues the Doctor, "after he had been well dried and his clothes put back on, was laid on the ground. But he immediately got up by himself and made his way - walking with the greatest ease - toward his father and mother, who smothered him with vigorous hugs, shedding tears of joy".

But there were also unhappy events. The civil authorities were trying their best to have the Grotto closed to the public, and use of the water disallowed until it had been properly checked once more. Further - and more worrying still - they were plotting to have the child arrested and committed on her next visit to Massabieille. This sad state of affairs was only halted by the intervention of Abbe Peyramale who - despite his lingering doubts about the visions themselves - was in no doubt about the innocence of the visionary. She might be deluded, but she was certainly no threat to the moral order of Lourdes or of France!

At this time, there were also a number of Satanic manifestations at the Grotto.   From the start of time, God had warned Satan that there would forever be enmity between him and the Woman. Lourdes was to be no exception to this rule.   The Satanic manifestation had begun during the fourth Apparition, when Bernadette had heard the cacophony of dark voices rising from the waters of the river, until silenced by the glance from the Virgin.   Now, toward, the end of the Visions, he would once more commence his assault. A young lady of Lourdes named Honorine, had been at the Grotto one day when she heard voices coming from within the empty Grotto - she said these voices produced a strange effect on her senses. This was repeated the next day, when Honorine again heard sounds - this time, savage howls and sounds like wild beasts in combat. The girl was terrified, and did not return to Massabieille for a number of weeks. The People of Lourdes said she was simply hysterical.

At the same time, a young man from Lourdes was passing the Grotto one day on his way to work before dawn. He crossed himself as he passed the rock, in honour of She who had been present there. Instantly, strange globes of light surrounded him and he felt unable to move. Terrified, he made the Sign of the Cross once more - as he did so, each of the globes of light exploded loudly around him and he was able to leave the place. As this was occurring, he could hear from within the Grotto, maniacal laughter and blasphemies. Jean Baptiste Estrade witnessed some of the assaults of the father of lies. A lady from the Rue des Bagneres in Lourdes, named Josephine, was experiencing apparitions in the niche - this lasted for two days. Estrade watched what was happening, but said that while Bernadette was in ecstasy, he felt "transported" - with Josephine, he merely felt "surprised." And whereas Bernadette during her ecstasy was "transfigured," Josephine was simply beautiful. The girl in question related to Estrade that she had indeed seen strange figures within the niche, but that she had felt suspicious of them since they appeared to her to be evil in nature, not Heavenly.

One day a young boy named Alex returned to his home in Lourdes screaming and shouting, but so paralysed with fear that he could not tell his poor mother what was the matter. After several days, he calmed down sufficiently to relate the cause of his terror - "When I left the house I went to walk with some other children by the side of Massabieille. When I reached the Grotto I prayed for a moment. Then, while waiting for my companions, I went up to the rock. Turning toward the hollow of the rock, I saw coming towards me a beautiful lady. This lady concealed her hands and the lower part of her body in an ashen coloured cloud, like a storm cloud. She fixed on me here great black eyes and seemed to wish to seize me. I thought at once that it was the devil and I fled".